Here's the backstory. Three guys in the O.C. got together in 2005 and came up with the idea for a show about the housewives who lived behind the gates of a fancy community. They knew something about it since 1 of them lived in the exclusive Coto de Caza gated community.

The original name for the show was "Behind the Gates" but it became "Real Housewives of Orange County" the following year.